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Story summary
- The European Space Agency (ESA)'s CryoSat mission gained the ability to detect geomagnetic storms after a software upgrade.
- The upgrade repurposed CryoSat's platform magnetometer, originally used for altitude control, to gather data on Earth's magnetosphere.
- The new capability complements data from ESA's Swarm mission and enhances geomagnetic research.
- On January 18, 2026, a major geomagnetic storm triggered by an X-class solar flare prompted CryoSat to measure the storm's intensity.
